Stay Positive During Your Job Search, Part 2

Stay Positive During Your Job Search, Part 2Stay Positive During Your Job Search, Part 2Ways to stay energized and keep your mind focused on the silver lining throughout your job search.In part one of this article, I shared with you three ways to keep your mind energized and focused on positive thoughtsRelive past winsIf you cant get out of it, get into itVisualize what you wantThis installment provides more tips on how to remain optimistic during your job search. And for 25 mora Career-Enhancing Dos, join Kirsten Dixson and I for an exclusive, complimentary Ladders.com Webinar on Friday, January 23 from 1200pm 100pm EST. Space is limited. Register today. To get you started, here are three critical tips to seeing the silver lining in your job search1. Anticipate and embrace change.Change is the only constant in the new world of work. Dont be hijacked by it. Get used to it, and get excited about it. If you view change as opportunity instead of threat, you alter your perspective and o pen yourself up to possibilities perhaps to things you hadnt even considered. Often, change brings with it serendipity and delivers options you had notlage even considered.I was speaking to a client who recently lost his job at a bank and he told me that once he got past the anger, sorrow and fear, he was excited about the infinite possibilities that just opened up. When he took the job, he had to leave LA, his favorite city, for the Pacific Northwest. He immersed himself in his work and never really made his new location home. Now, with a little severance package in hand, he realized that he is no longer tied to a city where he didnt feel comfortable. He saw that he could change where he lived, the industry he worked in and even the job function he held.How has your current job search opened up new avenues for you?Give some thought to motivational speaker, Brian Tracys idea You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and i n that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.2. Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.Its always to your benefit to apply your greatest strengths to the task at hand its absolutely essential when you are in the midst of a job search. When we lead from our strengths, we are more confident, attractive and successful. So as you take each step towards your new job, ask yourself how you can use your greatest strength to make each step of the process more successful.For example, if youre writing your career marketing tools and your greatest strengths are your quick wit and incredible sense of humor, think about how you can inject more humor into your resume or cover letter. If your greatest strength is your vast and diverse network, ask yourself how you can use your connections to find the perfect professional resume-writer who can paint your candidature to attract attention. When you inject your strengths into everything you do, you raise yourself and your cand idature to a new level.Whats your superlative and how will you apply it to all aspects of your job search?It helps to remember what Paul J. Meyer, author of success practices series, said, Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses on your powers, instead of your problems.3. Remember Nietzsche.The nineteenth-century German philosopher, Nietzsches poignant advice (That which does not kill us makes us stronger) reminds us that we can endure a lot more than we believe we can. When I look back at the most difficult experiences of my life, I realize that they all led to incredible growth in confidence, self-awareness, strength and focus. I am who I am today more as a result of the challenges I faced than the successes I enjoyed. As painful as they were to go through, I wouldnt give up any of them.How has adversity made you stronger?If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be, said John Heywood, an English poet and playwright.Know that in the future you will look at the current job search battle with a more affirmative view. And understand that whatever challenges you encounter or struggles you endure, they will all contribute to your confidence and your candidature for future opportunities.